Is There A Better Solution to Dorm Damages?

I waited in line for over 45 minutes to pay my dorm damages. I was the ninth in line -- behind Carl Peaslee, creator of the StagHen.com, and it took forever, though he made great company. Still I don't see what is so hard about having everyone line up and pay their bills. If I hadn't paid my bill, I wouldn't have been randomly entered into the housing lottery -- which I wish we didn't even have. To top it all off, my dorm damages are for things that I'm pretty sure I didn't do. 

I used to think that a better solution would be to have us pay Claremont Cash or simply to increase the cost to our tuition bill, but then Shua Redel suggested that the reason that they have us pay in person is to control the dorm damage costs. So many students at Claremont McKenna have their parents pay their credit card bill, tuition bill, and/or Claremont Cash that there might be no way to control costs if parents picked up the additional bills.

Redel suggeted that if they didn't have the shame of showing up and putting their money on the table for puking all over the bathroom floor, then they might just increase their damages. After all, what incentive would students have to control destructive behavior? It's a great moral hazard argument and has me thinking. Maybe a randomized study is in order? 

Abandoning Need Blind Admissions for Transfer Students

A professor writes in to say that Pamela Gann has announced to the faculty that we will be moving away from needs blind admissions for the twenty students.

Transfer Student Follow Up: 'A Return to Normal'

I wrote a blog post a few days about transfer students and Claremont McKenna.

Adam Sapp, from Admissions, responds in bold.

It is true that the Admission Office’s goal for fall 2009 is 20 students. Although the economy is certainly a larger X-factor this year than it has been in years past, we are assuming our yield on freshman applicants will play out the way we predicted during our forecasting back in March, which would mean we expect to have 280 students in the freshman class. Last year, we hoped to enroll 60 transfer students and came very close to that goal, enrolling 59. I would just like point out that LAST YEAR was an aberration. We are not ‘cutting’ transfer spots from 60 to 20, we are simply going back to more normal transfer class numbers. For all sorts of enrollment-related reasons, we needed larger classes last year, the filling of Claremont Hall and the study abroad numbers were but two of the many factors playing a role in our enrollment strategy last year. This year is a bit of a ‘return to normal’. Our 2009 enrollment targets for transfer students are much more in line with historical norms, which you can see below.

spring 2009 = 0

fall 2008 = 59

spring 2008 = 1

fall 2007 = 20

spring 2007 = 2

fall 2006 = 14

spring 2006 = 1

fall 2005 = 38

spring 2005 = 6

fall 2004 = 26

The Student Life Wishes...

One of the supposedly funny stories from The Student Life's April 1 satire issue is that The Claremont Independent has abandoned its mission in support of "truth and excellence" and will just focus on excellence on the campus.

Here's how they quote me responding,

"Plus, there already are publications on campus devoted to truth," continued Johnson. "Speaking of which have I ever told you guys how much I love TSL? Talk baout fantastic journalism! I guess having standards for objective reporting works for some people. Anyway, keep up the good work, guys. I'll be busy upholding excellence. Just let me know if you guys, you know, have any openings on the editorial board or something."

Yep, that's the joke from The Student Life. You know, the same newspaper that plagiarizes The Claremont Independent, that cuts out any mention of The Claremont Conservative or Claremont Independent, and significantly alters the writings of its writers? You mean, that newspaper is devoted to truth?